


Your Friendly ER Nurse

by july_v



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hospital, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 03:38:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1101949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/july_v/pseuds/july_v
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's 1am on a Monday morning when Jonny walks himself into the emergency room of the hospital, because he had a little disagreement with his lamp.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Friendly ER Nurse

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadowandrhyme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowandrhyme/gifts).



> Warnings? Tazer being ridiculously dumb (not too dumb to be real though). A visit to the emergency room. Crocs. Sharpy being his handsome self. Twilight. That's all. And in case you need to hear it: don't try this at home.

It's 1am on a Monday morning when Jonny walks himself into the emergency room of the hospital. The walk there doesn't take long from his small apartment and the fresh air is good, it calms his nerves a little. Once he's talked to the nurse at the front desk it's only a short wait for him before another nurse, a _male_ one, shows up and leads him into a large room with several beds, most of which are already occupied by other patients.

"Hey, Jon," the nurse says and points him to the last empty bed at the side of the room. There are pale yellow curtains separating the beds and Jon can hear the man to his right speaking to a doctor. Since the nurse apparently already knows what's up Jon doesn't bother introducing himself. Right now he isn't even sure he can talk. Informing the front desk nurse of his situation was difficult enough.

"Sit down and tell me what happened," the nurse prompts gently and helps Jon sit down on the hospital bed.

Jon takes a deep breath, gearing himself up to explain why he is there, shaking like a leaf. He tells the guy about how he was working on preparations for a class he teaches at university. It's on Tuesday mornings, translating French to English and he's not nearly done putting the worksheets together. "It's okay," the nurse says and Jon doesn't know why he's saying all that when he is aware that he's just rambling. It's useless information for the guy.

But the point is, his light bulb just popped. It just… kind of blew up? Jon still isn't sure how that had happened. So, anyway, he then dumbly proceeded to change the light bulb without unplugging the lamp or at least turning it off. That wouldn't have been too bad in itself, if he hadn't used scissors to try and dislodge a piece of glass from the light bulb that had gotten stuck in the socket.

Looking back it's probably the dumbest thing he has ever done and that is saying a lot, considering that he's lived and studied with TJ for years. All the stunts he'd pulled with TJ had never taken him to the ER though.

Jon's voice is shaky as he speaks and the nurse pats his leg in a way that is very comforting. It takes excruciatingly long to relay the story, but the man listens patiently, even though Jon is pretty sure he's crying half the time. It only gets worse when he gets frustrated by himself. The talking would be easier if he weren't crying, but at the same time he can't stop.

"It's alright," the nurse says soothingly. He discretely passes Jon a hanky and smiles softly. Jon's convinced that the guy usually works with kids. But it really helps calm him down so he can't complain. "I'll check you over, alright? We'll do an ECG and keep you here for a couple of hours."

Jon just nods. The guy's the expert and Jon's too busy just trying to stop shaking. It's another thing the nurse kindly doesn't comment on beyond a _'don't worry, that's normal after an electric shock. Or really in any situation where you're nervous'_. He puts a warm hand on Jon's shin and although he doesn't put any pressure on it, Jon immediately stops jiggling his leg. "It'll pass with the shock."

Jon closes his eyes and nods. It's difficult to stay calm, no matter how hard he tries. He feels helpless sitting there in a ratty old Jets shirt and worn sweats, because he had felt too shaky to change into anything more presentable. Then again the nurse can't judge him, his hair is a mess.

"Do you have any trouble breathing?" the nurse asks and waits for Jon to shake his head before he continues. "Any pain or dizziness?" While he speaks, he applies blue pads to Jonny's lower arms and shins.

"No dizziness," Jon says. "No pain, I mean… I'm not crying because it hurts," he feels the need to say so the other doesn't worry more than necessary, but he holds up his hand to show the small blisters on his palm and forearm. Jon suspects they're burns from the electric shock, though he's not an expert.

"We'll get to that in a minute," the nurse assures him with a small smile. "These go on your torso," he explains and holds up more of the blue pads. "They're for the ECG." He helps Jon to pull up his shirt then. "It's nothing to be afraid of. We'll just do the ECG to check your heart so we know it's okay." While he speaks he sticks the pads onto the center of Jon's chest. He places another four of them along the curve of Jon's ribs on the left side.

The nurse brings over a machine and clips a few cables to the pads he put all over Jon. "I'll write the ECG and take a blood sample for the lab. After that I'll take care of your hand. It's not gonna hurt."

Jon can't help but feel a little more at ease. He hates not being in charge and this is by far one of the most helpless situations he's ever been in. Having the nurse tell him what's going, that's really helping and Jon is thankful for that. It also keeps his brain occupied, which is good.

The ECG doesn't take long and the nurse picks up the piece of paper with the results. At least that's what Jon thinks. For a minute the guy studies the results and then smiles at Jon. "It's all regular, nothing out of the ordinary. Your heart is racing a little, but that should go down in the next few hours. We'll do another one right before you leave."

"Pat!" someone calls from somewhere beyond the yellow curtain and it's Jon's nurse who calls back that he'll be there in a minute. He quickly removes the cables, only to attach new ones that now connect Jon to another machine. After that he disappears, leaving Jon alone.

Five minutes after the nurse… Pat?... disappeared, Jon regrets that he didn't grab a book when he left home. According to the clock across the room it takes Pat ten minutes to come back. It feels like much longer to Jon. By the time Pat gets back Jon's hand is filled with the weird, itchy-painful sensation that he associates with burns.

"Still feeling okay?" Pat asks as his head pops around the curtain. He isn't tall enough to peek over the top of it, but Jon could see his curls before he saw the rest of him.

"Mostly." Jon lifts his hand again.

"I'll look at that now," Pat says, almost apologetic. Before he actually does anything, he runs Jon through a series of exercises to ensure Jon's hand is flexible and the burns are the only injury he has. Once that is done, he liberally applies some clear gel to Jon's palm and lower arm and bandages it all up. As soon as the cooling sensation of the gel kicks in, Jon can't hold back the relieved sigh.

"Alright, Jon," Pat says, cradling Jon's wrist in his hand as if he doesn't even notice he's doing it. Jon on the other hand is definitely is. "You have to stick around for a couple of hours, so we can make sure there aren't any long-term effects," Pat informs him.

"Alright," Jon echoes, resigning himself to calling in sick for work on Tuesday… today. His preparations are nowhere near finished and he won't catch any sleep in this place. "Can you get me something to read?" he asks. He's not good at just lying around and doing nothing. The shaky feeling has died down enough that Jon is sure he could focus on a text.

"Yeah, I can lend you the book I'm reading right now," Pat offers. "Unless you'd rather have me get you some of the gossip mags from the waiting room."

Yeah, no. Jon was in that waiting room and he'd flipped through those magazines to distract himself. There is no universe in which he cares which celebrity ruined her figure by being pregnant or which football star cheated on his wife. "Book, please. I prefer reading proper stuff," Jon says with a tired smile.

"So do I!" Pat chimes happily. He brushes his thumb over Jon's wrist through the soft white bandage before he gets up.

Five minutes later Jon is holding a copy of Twilight and Pat is smiling at him. Jon would have laughed at him, but he doesn't have the energy for it. That book just might be better than the magazines. It could be, right?

"Thank you," Jon says, because his mother raised him right.

"No worries. I'm happy to share the greatness!" Pat beams at him and then wanders off again to do his thing. From what Jon has heard the 'book' Pat just handed him involves not a single trace of greatness.

The next three hours pass slowly and Jon alternates between reading, dozing or just lying around and thinking. Occasionally Pat checks in on him. He brings Jon a glass of water or asks how his reading is coming along. He checks the machine and unhooks the cables so Jon can use the rest room. He even takes the time to answer Jon's various and partly random questions about the ER and his job.

"Where's that blood going?" he asks, when Pat remembers that he needs to take a sample to send to the lab. Jon's never fond of needles and he isn't sure what the electricity is supposed to have done to his blood, but there is probably some sense behind it.

"The lab, just to check if there is anything suspicious going on. You know, if you might have turned into Thor or something. Stranger things have happened. We might find your blood cells now look like tiny Mjolnirs." He holds up the plastic vial with the blood sample. Jon can't see anything strange going on with his blood.

"Why are you wearing crocs?" Jon asks the next time Pat passes by, because really?

"They're comfy, which is good when you're on your feet for hours. I do a lot of walking and standing."

"Why are they pink though?"

"Because." Pat grins at him. "They could be yellow. Sid down in pediatrics has yellow crocs," he tuts and then shakes his head, as if somehow yellow is worse than pink.

There are two nurses in the room, taking care of eight or so patients, so Pat is pretty busy. Still he regularly checks in on Jon, maybe a little more often than he has to.

"Why would you even read this?" Jon holds up the book.

"Because it's awesome. A masterpiece, Jon! I have like… a book club with my sisters. I have three of them and they're the best." Jon can tell he really believes that, just by the expression it puts of Pat's face. "We all read it."

It's nearly 3.30 am when Jon remembers. "What's your name?"

"Patrick," Pat grins even wider. "Didn't I introduce myself?" He looks almost sheepish at the realization. "I'm Pat, your friendly ER nurse."

"Hello Pat," Jon deadpans. "I'm Jon, your grumpy patient."

"I'll cut you some slack," Pat tells him and Jon knows something horrible is about to follow. The corner of Pat's mouth is twitching a little, as though he's trying not to grin. "You're under shock."

Jon groans, loudly, and Pat laughs. It's a good sound in a room that is mostly filled with beeping machines, and coughing or complaining patients. Jon finds himself smiling back despite himself.

"Yeah," Jon agrees. "Usually I'm even grumpier," he jokes. It's not a good joke, he's sure, but he's not a jokester, even on his good days. The grumpiness is something his students usually note down in their evaluations of his class at the end of the term. It's also mostly true that he can be a lot grumpier.

Pat just shrugs. "You don't seem so bad." After that Jon has a feeling that Pat sticks around a little more. It's a good feeling.

There's a counter on the wall opposite Jon's bed, a row of cabinets above it and Pat stands there, re-stocking supplies and tidying up a little as he chats with Jon. The room grows steadily more quiet, now that most of the patients are asleep. Jon has trouble sleeping when people are around, especially strangers. He blames most of that paranoia on TJ. So he's awake at 4-something am, watching Pat be a nurse.

He's nothing like Jon would describe a nurse, if anyone asked him to do that. First of all Pat is a dude and he's short. He also looks like he just rolled out of bed and threw on a set of scrubs, not bothering to brush his curls first. Pat's shoulders are surprisingly broad and Jon gets caught up staring for a moment, so he doesn't notice when he's suddenly no longer looking at Pat's back, but his chest.

"We'll repeat the ECG now," Pat says, a small smirk on his lips. Jon feels caught, but he doesn't think that Pat minds. That thought makes Jon hold his breath for a second.

"Okay," Jon says and his cheeks feel warm. He hasn't blushed in forever.

This time, when he attaches the ECG machine to the pads on Jonny's chest, arms and legs, Pat doesn't put on gloves and the brush of his cold fingers against Jon's skin makes Jon shiver a little.

When Pat mumbles that he's sorry, he absolutely doesn't look like he is.

"I got in your lab results and they're fine. So you haven't turned into a Norse superhero, I'm sorry. The good news is, if this comes back okay as well, you're good to go home."

While the machine works, Pat looks like he's thinking. "We had you checked by the doc," he begins and yeah, Jon remembers doctor Seabrook.

He is young doctor, but Jon thought he seemed rather capable despite his young-ish age. Come to think of it, Pat also seems rather young, maybe around Jon's age. So for all Jon knows he could still be a nurse in training.

"Did two ECGs, fixed your hand… well, as much as I can, anyway. I gave you water, _I_ gave you a checkup after you came in…" Pat nods. "That's all. You'll get a letter for your doctor and that's it." He smiles at Jon. "Ten minutes and you're out the door." He turns his head away and yawns into his shoulder. "Sorry."

"Do you get to go home?" Jon asks with a weird twist in his gut.

"I have a few hours left on my shift." Pat shrugs his shoulders and picks up the sheet of paper that came out of the ECG machine. This time Jon can see the graph on it. It's all just lines and Jon doesn't even try to make sense of them. What does ECG even mean?

Pat is focused on the results, reading them over carefully and then he's smiling at Jon when he looks up.

"So, this is your pass to go home," he tells Jon happily, waving the paper around. "Nothing out of the ordinary here, as far as I can tell. I'll have to let the doc check it over though. Obviously, if anything happens you come right back here or you go and see your doctor. Just to be sure."

Pat wanders off once more, after ridding Jon of the cables and the pads, although he calls them leads and electrodes. Or at least Jon thinks that's what he means.

While Jon waits for Pat's return another doctor comes over and gives him one more checkup. Jon lets him, even if that's the third time someone does it. He's just too tired to protest or explain he's gone through this before. Twice.

The guy's name tag reads _'Dr P. Sharp'_ and he's all smiles and flawless hair, a stark contrast to Pat, at least when it comes to the hair. Still, Jon assumes they've been working similar hours.

"Did Pat treat you well?" the doctor asks, flexing Jon's fingers and moving his head.

"Yes?" Jon says, unsure what he's supposed to say. "Patrick you mean? My nurse?"

"Yes, _your_ nurse!" Sharp agrees happily and picks up the copy of Twilight that's lying next to Jon on the bed. "I see, he likes you," Sharp says in a very strange tone that makes Jon have to fight back a cringe. Sharp sounds like TJ when he's up to something. With those words Sharp hands back the book and gets up.

"Uh… could I maybe borrow your pen for a moment? I'll… uh, I'll ask Patrick to give it back to you." It's a split-second decision when Jon's eyes catch on the pen in Sharp's pocket.

"Sure," Sharp says and hands him the pen. It's a nice one, silver and engraved with _'Patrick Sharp'_. Another Patrick. "I wish you a speedy recovery." And then he's off talking to the patient to Jon's right again.

Jon looks around, then digs a crumbled receipt out of the pocket of his sweats. It's from a late-night trip to the gas station three days ago to buy gum, a bottle of coke and a hockey magazine. Not impressive, but it'll have to do. He jots down his name and number and slips it between the pages of Pat's book.

There's a first time for everything, Jon thinks, because he's never done anything like this before and he'll probably feel very embarrassed about it once he had a few hours of sleep. Especially if Pat doesn't actually call him.

"There you go," he hears and looks up to find Pat, who hands him a few sheets of paper. They're full of text that Jon doesn't even bother looking at, they'll make more sense in the morning.

"Thanks," Jon says as he takes them and rolls them up for easier transportation. "And thanks for letting me borrow your book." He picks it up, the paper with his number peeking out a little at the top, and hands it over.

"Didn't get very far," Pat teases, flicking his thumb against the note. Apparently he assumes it's what Jon used as a bookmark. Jon didn't even get _that_ far.

"No, no I didn't," Jon agrees. "Couldn't really focus much."

"Understandable. Ready to go home?"

Jon thinks about it for a moment. He feels much better, although there's still so much nervous energy in him. He knows himself well enough to know that he'll crash soon, so he just wants to get home. "Yeah," he concludes and gets to his feet.

"I'll show you to the exit," Pat says. He puts down his book at the foot of the bed and places a hand on Jon's elbow to guide him to the double doors through which Jon had entered the ER five or so hours ago. Time's a bit fuzzy and Jon doesn't really want to know how damn early it is.

"I hope you'll be better soon," Pat says. Standing in the bright lights of the hallway, Jon gets his first good look at Pat, unclouded by shock, bad lighting or fear. He looks very tired.

"Thanks," Jon says again with a smile. He mostly isn't into the whole hugging business, but he still wraps his arms around Pat and hugs him tightly. Pat returns the embrace almost immediately.

Jon turns once when he reaches the exit and Pat's still there, giving him a small wave. He takes his time walking home, picking the long route because he hopes to burn off some of his excess energy so that he can fall asleep easier.

In his hurry to get to the hospital Jon hadn't taken his phone and the first thing he does when he picks it up off his bed is type out a message to Professor Quenneville to inform him that he won't be coming to university the next day… Today… in the morning. He adds a small explanation why, then puts his phone on the bedside table and gets ready for bed.

He doesn't bother setting an alarm, but he does check the time after sliding under the covers and there's a text from an unknown number.

**Author's Note:**

> First of all, ECG stands for [electrocardiogram](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrocardiography).
> 
> So this was inspired by my life. Aka I put myself in the ER with an electric shock and dealt with my 'trauma' by writing this little fic. Please don't ask how I did it. It's embarrassing because it was pretty dumb. I received the 'how could you be so stupid' lecture several times, including a snotty remark from one of the doctors.
> 
> Anything that happens is written from Tazer's POV (it's probably not 100% accurate with regards to what stuff is called etc.). Also, while this is basically placed on the proceedings of my own visit to the ER I sadly have to admit that, while I had a super friendly (male) nurse looking after me, no phone numbers were exchanged. Too bad. He was also more like Hoss than Kaner, then again I'm not Tazer.
> 
> I should also mention my big sister who kindly brought me to the hospital, then went back home to get me a book and my MP3-Player, waited up most of the night so she could pick me up again. And all that after my nurse talked to her while casually holding vials of my blood. Lovely. This is my thanks to her.
> 
> It was still fun to write.
> 
> And I am still terribly disappointed that I am not Thor. I still also have no idea where my head wound came from.


End file.
